March 29, 2024

By Manija Hamidullah, Spoke News

The manager of One Card at Conestoga College’s Doon campus is assuring students that any problems they face with their card can be solved right away.

“Students face problems once in a while depositing money in their cards, but it is very minimum and resolved as soon as possible,” said Andrea De Vito. “If students face any other problems they can contact our office and we can follow up the transaction.”

The One Card is intended for both daytime students and employees. Its purpose is to make the purchase of goods and services fast and simple.

September is a busy year for students as they search for their classrooms, buy their bus passes or parking pass. School is already stressful as is it and when students don’t have the right information about their student card and what they can do with it, that can make students’ school year difficult.

“Across all campuses, we have 8.5 per cent of students loading [funds onto their cards], but the [total amount of] deposits has increased by 25 per cent, De Vito said.

Andrea De Vito, manager of One Card, says more than eight per cent of Conestoga students have loaded funds onto their cards. Photo by Manija Hamidullah, Spoke News

Campus locations that offer services with One Card include the bookstore, canteen vending machines, Chartwell On the Go, Grill & Co, Starbucks, Bento Sushi, the Conestoga Students Inc. service hub, Pita Pit, Pizza Pizza, Smokes Poutinerie, The Venue, Tim Hortons, the school library, M&T Print and various wellness services, such as chiropractic, massage, and physiotherapy. The card can also be used to pay for parking.

Students can also use their card at off-campus locations such as Gino’s Pizza, 601 Doon Village Rd., Kitchener; Johnny Fresco, 244 Weber St. N., Waterloo; McDonald’s, at 2410 Homer Watson Blvd., Kitchener (purchases must be made in the store at the counter); Mucho Burrito, 220 King St. N., Waterloo; and Pizza Pizza, 123 Pioneer Dr., Kitchener. Students need to be advised that One Card must be present at delivery.

The One Card has already made many students’ lives easier by facilitating a purchase with just a tap and go; a new plan is being rolled out for students taking Grand River Transit.

“There will be a new change for the One Card regards to the GRT pass,” De Vito said. “They have done a soft launch for that and it is actually working — so far, so good — and if it does go through and we are able to implement that, essentially your One Card will be your bus pass.”

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